HENDERSON, Nev. — Daimler Trucks North America executives said that advanced truck safety systems are an investment with a reasonable return.
They said in a briefing here on Sept. 15 that they are eager to bring new technologies to the market.
“Everything you have seen from us since May [when the autonomous Inspiration truck was unveiled] has been about advancing safety systems and advancing the driver environment,” said Diane Hames, a DTNA general manager.
The Inspiration truck with autonomous driving assistance is still a concept truck rather than something coming to market soon.
Many people have an outdated, unfair image of trucking “that thinks of Bandit and Snowman,” Hames said referring to the Smokey and the Bandit movies from the 1970s and ’80s.
“That’s not what trucking is today. There is an opportunity to elevate the industry and change perception,” she said. The company, parent of Freightliner and Western Star Trucks, has appealed to fleets that are “early adopters” of safety options such as electronic stability control, adaptive cruise control and lane-departure warning.
Asked about cost, when tractor prices are rising from environmental equipment, Hames said the original equipment manufacturer is “looking to add value, not just cost, and to provide a payback to customers. We have to demonstrate a payback on safety.”
The company also will continue offering trimmed-down trucks for those buyers who don’t desire such technologically advanced features.
In other news from the briefing:
• Hames responded to a Sept. 14 blog post by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx that said DOT “wants to roll out the red carpet, not the red tape, for new technologies in transportation. If an emerging technology can improve safety and improve how we move, we want to see it on the market as quickly as possible.”
Hames said cameras over mirrors would be proof of that statement. DTNA engineers are staunchly in favor of removing legally mandated side-view mirrors and replacing them with small cameras that monitor the sides of trucks and the back, and then display the images in-cab on a small screen.
She said mirrors are just “great big ears hanging off the side.” They diminish aerodynamic performance, thereby decreasing fuel mileage, and don’t provide views that are as good as cameras, she added.
Rival truck maker Peterbilt Motors Co. also demonstrated a test vehicle using cameras earlier this year and advanced a similar argument of the superiority of cameras over mirrors.
• On the sales front, Richard Howard, DTNA senior vice president, said the North American truck market probably won’t grow in 2016, but that is tolerable as 2015 is proving to be a banner year.
Daimler considers its North American market to be Class 6-8 trucks and school buses sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The OEM expects industrywide sales of 435,000 units this year and next.
Change is expected in vehicle mix, though, with Class 8 trucks dipping slightly and Class 6 and 7 medium duties inching up. (Paccar Inc. has also predicted a similar shift for next year.)
Howard also said his North American dealership network remains constant in the number of locations, but concentration in ownership groups controlling those locations.
Over the last five years, DTNA said, large dealership chains have brought out smaller players in the market, but the company did not release any documentation.
